Payasam (semiya/ada, coconut milk)

One serving of Payasam (semiya/ada, coconut milk) — 1 katori (150 g) — comes to 191 kcal, 4 g protein, 28 g carbs and 7 g fat. Scaled to 100 g it works out to 127 kcal and 2.7 g protein, which makes it not a meaningful protein source on its own for a sweet item. That single serving is about 12.7% of a 1,500 kcal day and 9.6% of a 2,000 kcal day, so it's more of a filler than a target-hitter on protein without much extra planning.

Walking off Payasam (semiya/ada, coconut milk) takes roughly 4,775 steps, using the rough approximation of 0.04 kcal burned per step (a population-average estimate for a moderate walking pace, not a personalised number). At ₹15 a serving it costs about ₹75 for every 20 g of protein it delivers, which is a mid-to-high price for protein compared with dal, eggs or soya chunks. It fits nearly every Indian diet type, including vegetarian, Jain, eggetarian. It works at lunch and the evening snack slot.

If you want variety without changing the macros much, the closest swaps in the sweet category are Besan ladoo, Milk chocolate bar, Gulab jamun (with syrup), Honey — each keeps a similar role on the plate while shifting the exact protein-to-carb balance a little.